The other night I read in the Portsmouth Daily Time web articles that local Attorney Joe Hale and some of his lawyer friends had resolved the first oxycontin case with a judgment of around $600,000,000. When I read that story I realized that the first oxycontin story about the effects this drug was having on citizens of our country was written by Sentinel owner/reporter Austin Leedom.
This case started when I was a client of Attorney Joe Hale back in the mid 1990's. Austin Leedom investigated the death of Mr. Burton, investigated the drug oxycontin, and wrote the first story about it in a Shawnee Sentinel Newspaper that was distributed in the Portsmouth and Scioto County region. Austin advised Attorney Hale that the case was a "big one" and we were present when Attorney Hale won the first "summary judgment" which resulted in a champagne cork being sent into the drop ceiling of Attorney Hale's office. We knew then that the case would take years and a lot of money to fight in court and due to Attorney Hale and other attorneys joining forces the makers of oxycontin have now been found liable for their lies.
Good job Austin on that story! You had it right my friend. This made me take the time to sit back and look at all the other stories we initiated which resulted in either the firing, resignation, defeat through election, or recall of public officials and/or private citizens that committed crimes in Scioto County. The list is a real who's who affair.
1. Resignations of SSU President Clive Veri and SSU Vice President of Finance David Creamer after the revelation they committed bonding fraud in 1995.
2. Bradford Wedebrook imprisoned after we revealed his theft of thousands of dollars from the elderly and disabled.
3. Recall of Portsmouth Mayor Greg Bauer for malfeasance in office.
4. Recall of Portsmouth City Councilwomen Ann Sydnor and Carol Caudill for malfeasance in office.
5. Resignation of Portsmouth City Service Director Mike Blackburn for theft of city id to illegally purchase a home computer.
6. Imprisonment of Wheelersburg High School teacher/football coach John Michael Schmidt for rape of his daughter.
7. Defeat of 25+ year Scioto County Prosecutor Lynn Grimshaw after revelations of corruption in his office in 2002 primary.
8. Defeat of 10 year Scioto County Common Pleas Court Judge Walter Lytten after revelation of corruption in his office and his oversite of the Scioto County Probation Department.
9. Revelation of connection to known drug abusers/dealers with Portsmouth Police Officers, including the Chief of Portsmouth Police Charles Horner.
10. Resignation of Scioto County MRDD Superintendent John Oakley after we exposed his sexual affairs and misuse of public funds.
11. Resignation of Lucasville Valley Superintendent Doug Booth after we exposed his sexual relationship with a teacher in the school district.
12. The disbanding of the Scioto County Drug Task Force occurred when we started investigating where the money was going!
This is just a few of the stories that we have worked on over the last decade and does not include the hundreds to thousands of personal stories we investigated for our readers. When I think back on all this hard work I am very proud of what we have done to expose corruption in Scioto County and the City of Portsmouth.
On a few internet forums I read where people claim to be "exposing corruption" and how these nameless people try to claim how much they have done to help bring change in Scioto County and Portsmouth. One of these individuals is a "boy" named Gary Daniels (a possible sexual predator). Maybe Daniels and his buddies can do what I have done and list up their accomplishments in their alleged investigations where they have "exposed" corruption.
It's easy to hide in the closet and claim to do something but it takes guts to come out and take these people on in public using your own name. We have done that and we are still standing.
I enjoy reading how certain people claim they led the recall of Mayor Greg Bauer when we can prove we were leading the charge 18 months before it started. It was our investigations that took former Mayor Bauer down, not the dumping of a few bucks by newcomers to the fight to buy a few ads on the radio or newspaper.
To win a war you must fight in the trenches! A simple review of our record proves Austin, Wally and I have been in the trenches and not many others can claim that either.
John Welton (DD)
